Canvas brings layered painting and image composition into Visual Space. Build artwork from images, text, shapes, and paint, then share the workspace with collaborators.
Canvas Files
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Create in a space - Coordinators with Canvas app access can create files in eligible space areas and open them directly in the editor.
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Browse by area - Users can find and reopen Canvas files alongside the work in their current space area. The Canvas guide covers finding, creating, and reopening these files.
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Connected opening - Canvas files opened from Docs or shared chat cards go straight to the Canvas editor.
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Linked discussion - Each Canvas includes a linked draft article and document-level comments without publishing a feed post automatically.
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Focused editing - The fullscreen workspace keeps tools close, then returns users to the file's owning area when they leave.
Layered Editing
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Flexible layers - Users can combine paint and fill, text and shapes, adjustments, placed images, and imported SVG artwork.
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Layer controls - Users can organize eligible layers, protect them with locks, and adjust visibility or appearance without changing the protected background.
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Layer appearance - Supported blend modes, opacity, fill opacity, thumbnails, and masks help users control how layers combine.
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Painting tools - Brush, Pencil, and Eraser support adjustable marks with detailed stroke, color, and pressure settings.
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Color workflows - Users can fill selections, add gradients, sample visible colors, and manage both swatches through a full color picker.
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Retouching tools - Clone Stamp, Healing, Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge support corrections on eligible paint layers with adjustable brush settings.
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Selections and transforms - Users can draw rectangular selections, move or resize content, snap to useful targets, and adjust selection bounds.
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Clipboard and framing - Copy, cut, paste, duplicate, clear, and framing commands support common composition changes.
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Text and shapes - Users can add editable text, adjust typography, draw basic shapes, and convert finished text into paint content.
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Masks and adjustments - Users can paint supported masks and adjust colors or tones through separate adjustment layers while keeping the underlying artwork editable.
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SVG workflows - Users can import supported SVG artwork, recolor shapes, move anchor points, and save the editable SVG representation.
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Placed images - Users can place images from their space or paste image content into the artwork, then position the visible image alongside other layers.
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Reusable image content - Supported Smart Objects preserve source content while users resize their placement and return to edit its contents.
Workspace Controls
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Tool-aware controls - The focused tool rail and changing options bar keep relevant controls available as users switch tasks.
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Pan and zoom - Users can navigate with the Hand and Zoom tools, pointer-centered zooming, fit view, and actual-pixel commands.
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View aids - Users can switch between three display modes and combine them with rulers, guides, grids, layer bounds, or snapping.
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Commands and shortcuts - Menus, keyboard shortcuts, and right-click actions expose available commands while keeping unfinished actions disabled.
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Faster brush changes - Modifier gestures adjust brush size and hardness, while number keys set opacity or flow without leaving the artwork.
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Constrained drawing - Holding Shift keeps supported strokes and lines at 45-degree angles and constrains rectangles and ellipses to equal proportions.
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Adaptive panels - Artwork, text, context, and history panels adapt between desktop and compact layouts.
Saving And Teamwork
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Clear autosave - Canvas distinguishes live updates, pending changes, completed saves, and recovery problems so users know when their artwork is safely saved.
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Browser recovery - Locally retained drafts help recover interrupted work in the same browser while delayed saves remain visibly pending.
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Layered projects - Users can download and reopen editable .vscanvas projects with supported layers, masks, effects, colors, views, and history.
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Useful history - Undo and redo group brush, selection, movement, transform, and clipboard work into understandable local steps.
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Live collaboration - Collaborators receive painting and layer changes while the Canvas stays open, without losing their own zoom, selected tool, or workspace position.
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Shared pointers - Visible collaborator pointers help people coordinate where they are working on the same artwork.
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Meeting Canvas - Teams can open the same Canvas workspace during meetings and switch Canvas files from the live-app picker.
Import And Export
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Bring existing artwork - Users can open PNG, JPEG, WebP, supported PSD, SVG, and layered Canvas project files.
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Export finished images - Users can download PNG, JPEG, and WebP images or export supported SVG content and layered PSD files.
Current Limits
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Editing coverage - Advanced selections, typography, filters, and some familiar editing commands remain limited. Unavailable commands stay disabled.
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Format differences - PSD export preserves supported layers and a combined image, but does not reproduce every editable adjustment or effect from other editors.
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Document limits - Documents support dimensions up to 5,000 by 5,000 pixels, and imported PNG, JPEG, and WebP files must stay within 30 MiB.
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Overlapping edits - When collaborators paint over the same pixels, the later received change can replace earlier work in that region.
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Local history - Undo follows local editing history rather than providing independent undo for every collaborator. Native project files can retain that history.